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Electric Field Double Probe Measurements for Ionospheric Space Plasma ExperimentsDouble probes represent a well-proven technique for gathering high quality DC and AC electric field measurements in a variety of space plasma regimes including the magnetosphere, ionosphere, and mesosphere. Such experiments have been successfully flown on a variety of spacecraft including sounding rockets and satellites. Typical instrument designs involve a series of trades, depending on the science objectives, type of platform (e.g., spinning or 3-axis stabilized), expected plasma regime where the measurements will be made, available telemetry, budget, etc. In general, ionospheric DC electric field instruments that achieve accuracies of 0.1 mV/m or better, place spherical sensors at large distances (10m or more) from the spacecraft body in order to extend well beyond the spacecraft wake and sheath and to achieve large signal-to-noise ratios for DC and long wavelength measurements. Additional sets of sensors inboard of the primary, outermost sensors provide useful additional information, both for diagnostics of the plasma contact potentials, which particularly enhance the DC electric field measurements on non-spinning spacecraft, and for wavelength and phase velocity measurements that use the spaced receiver or "interferometer" technique. Accurate attitude knowledge enables B times V contributions to be subtracted from the measured potentials, and permits the measured components to be rotated into meaningful geophysical reference frames. We review the measurement technique for both DC and wave electric field measurements in the ionosphere discussing recent advances involving high resolution burst memories, multiple baseline double probes, new sensor surface materials, biasing techniques, and other considerations.
Document ID
20000024917
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Pfaff, R.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Subject Category
Plasma Physics
Meeting Information
Meeting: National Radio Science
Location: Boulder, CO
Country: United States
Start Date: January 1, 2000
Sponsors: International Scientific Radio Union
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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